I have not, but a slant break isnt going to extinguish much flash at all, you will need a FH for night shooting, keep in mind, a FH is not meant to hide flash from the targets perspective, but instead, keep you from temporary blindness.

you might try one of those AK birdcages in the EE for $8.50, I dont know how well they work, anyone know?

I just have a slant break on mine. At night while shooting tracers made by wolf I noticed a little flash, but not too much. Standard wolf ball was the same. When shooting my handloads loaded with federal cases, projectiles and H-335 there was a lot more flash, almost with a bluish hue twards the end.

Originally Posted By Freakzilla:I have not, but a slant break isnt going to extinguish much flash at all, you will need a FH for night shooting, keep in mind, a FH is not meant to hide flash from the targets perspective, but instead, keep you from temporary blindness.

you might try one of those AK birdcages in the EE for $8.50, I dont know how well they work, anyone know?

someone posted a video on the ak general section a week or so ago of the birdcage in action.it worked amazingly well and i saved the video. let me see if i can find it for you..

I took my Romy AK-74 out the other evening for the first time and I showed my four year old son the dual fireballs. It was fun. Old Russian 5.45 I bought back in the early 90's from a sealed, light green tin. It sure sparked a lot when I was shooting my steel gong at 50 yards! I wonder...............??

This site, http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=454539&highlight=chevrofreak posted in the Kalashnikov Klub on www.glocktalk.com will show the video of the flash suppressor. Chevrofreak is the person who did the posting.

I dont buy that IR signature thing. I know that the huge fireball is pretty visible with the naked eye at night, even without night vision, and if someone does have NODs, it cant be much worse.

AK rounds aren't nearly as hot as modern 5.56mm ammo, so the fact that most modern rifles have flash suppressors doesn't mean much. Everything uses NATO rounds these days. With 5.56 rounds, you need a flash suppressor just to keep from going blind at night.

As for the night vision issue, that's one of the main reasons that snipers don't use flash suppressors (other than the detramental effects to accuracy.) Tests have shown that at a distance, through a night vision device, a regular crowned barrel creates a pinpoint of light. A rifle with a flash suppressor creates a large doughnut of light. This is because night vision devices pick up some infrared radiation in addition to the visible spectrum. The flash suppressor forces hot gasses out to the sides, while a crowned barrel pushes the gases forward, for the most part. Assuming that these tests carry over to assault rifles, I'd say that the best option for an AK all-around would be a slant break. It controls muzzle rise, but it doesn't seem like it would noticeably increase an IR signature the way that a flash suppressor or traditional muzzle break would. Once again, it's not like you need a flash suppressor to keep from going blind at night from an AK47, anyway.

EDIT: Look at backblast's picture. Notice how much the width of the fireball is increased by the muzzle break. (Look at the jet of flame going out to the side.) The effect when viewed through a night vision device would be even more dramatic.

I dont buy that IR signature thing. I know that the huge fireball is pretty visible with the naked eye at night, even without night vision, and if someone does have NODs, it cant be much worse.

AK rounds aren't nearly as hot as modern 5.56mm ammo, so the fact that most modern rifles have flash suppressors doesn't mean much. Everything uses NATO rounds these days. With 5.56 rounds, you need a flash suppressor just to keep from going blind at night.

As for the night vision issue, that's one of the main reasons that snipers don't use flash suppressors (other than the detramental effects to accuracy.) Tests have shown that at a distance, through a night vision device, a regular crowned barrel creates a pinpoint of light. A rifle with a flash suppressor creates a large doughnut of light. This is because night vision devices pick up some infrared radiation in addition to the visible spectrum. The flash suppressor forces hot gasses out to the sides, while a crowned barrel pushes the gases forward, for the most part. Assuming that these tests carry over to assault rifles, I'd say that the best option for an AK all-around would be a slant break. It controls muzzle rise, but it doesn't seem like it would noticeably increase an IR signature the way that a flash suppressor or traditional muzzle break would. Once again, it's not like you need a flash suppressor to keep from going blind at night from an AK47, anyway.

EDIT: Look at backblast's picture. Notice how much the width of the fireball is increased by the muzzle break. (Look at the jet of flame going out to the side.) The effect when viewed through a night vision device would be even more dramatic.

does our enemy have night vision capability? OK then I guess you have to change your story.

I dont buy that IR signature thing. I know that the huge fireball is pretty visible with the naked eye at night, even without night vision, and if someone does have NODs, it cant be much worse.

AK rounds aren't nearly as hot as modern 5.56mm ammo, so the fact that most modern rifles have flash suppressors doesn't mean much. Everything uses NATO rounds these days. With 5.56 rounds, you need a flash suppressor just to keep from going blind at night.

As for the night vision issue, that's one of the main reasons that snipers don't use flash suppressors (other than the detramental effects to accuracy.) Tests have shown that at a distance, through a night vision device, a regular crowned barrel creates a pinpoint of light. A rifle with a flash suppressor creates a large doughnut of light. This is because night vision devices pick up some infrared radiation in addition to the visible spectrum. The flash suppressor forces hot gasses out to the sides, while a crowned barrel pushes the gases forward, for the most part. Assuming that these tests carry over to assault rifles, I'd say that the best option for an AK all-around would be a slant break. It controls muzzle rise, but it doesn't seem like it would noticeably increase an IR signature the way that a flash suppressor or traditional muzzle break would. Once again, it's not like you need a flash suppressor to keep from going blind at night from an AK47, anyway.

EDIT: Look at backblast's picture. Notice how much the width of the fireball is increased by the muzzle break. (Look at the jet of flame going out to the side.) The effect when viewed through a night vision device would be even more dramatic.

does our enemy have night vision capability? OK then I guess you have to change your story.

your post is a load of crap

What kinda one war fighter are you?You adjust your tactics to the strongest enemy you will have to fight.Does our enemy have tanks?An airforce?Not this current one, no.But China, Russia, France, Germany, Iran, DPRK, etc do have NODs.

If you are going to be so cranky, you'll feel more at home on the AR side.

What I was saying was that since flash suppressors hurt accuracy and make you more visible at long distances through a night vision device, the only point to using a flash suppressor on a sniper rifle would be if you were shooting reasonably close to an enemy that didn't have night vision capabilities. Flash suppressors would be such a specialized item that they're just not worth it for snipers. Besides, if you're worried about muzzle flash, sound suppressors are the best flash suppressors, anyway... My post made a good point and was not a "load of crap."

My real point was that since the 7.62x39 round doesn't have a tremendous muzzle flash anyway, it's not worth it to have a flash suppressor. All a flash suppressor would do is shoot hot gasses out to the sides and make you more visible with NV or IR at longer distances. The only advantage a flash suppressor would have in that case would be to make you slightly less visible to the naked eye, especially at close ranges. I was just saying that a slant break seems to be a good balance between concealment vs. enemies with or without night vision.

When I owned a Polytech M14, it came with a fake FS...basically it was just a tube with shallow "divets" milled out of the outside. (The inside had an ID of about 3/8")

With this thing on, I got groups averaging 8" at 100 yards...this, with a .308 and a scope!

I put on a USGI FS, and the groups dropped to 1 1/4"...now I'm no sniper but it seems to me that in this case a FS improved accuracy a lot...and although I didn't fire it with a bare barrel to compare, I would think it would be difficult to improve on this; anything less would indicate I owned a sub-MOA Chinese rifle out of the box.

Yes, some flash suppressors are more accurate than others. When air rushes out of the barrel, flash suppressors create turbulance, which throws the bullet off a little. When I said that flash suppressors hurt accuracy, it was a hasty generalization, though. Now that I think about it, Vortex flash suppressors are said to help the gasses come out smoothly. They're actually supposed to enhance accuracy. Until someone shows me a picture of a Vortex with NV, though, I'm going to stand by my choice of a slant break.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

"It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory." - General George S. Patton

I fired a 7.62x39 AKSU with and with out the flash hider/brake thingy in front at dusk. With out the brake thingy the flash was stout and other people stopped shooting because they thought my gun had blown up. With the brake it was still very stout but not near as bad. As for standard AKs-Czech ammo has quite a fireball, so does Egyptian, and Syrian ammo. Russian and Chinese military production ammo weren't too bad.

ALL THE FLASH HIDER FLASH SUPPRESSORS ON THE END OF THE AK AND MOST ASSAULT RIFLES ARE FOR RECOIL THE OBJECT IS TO KEEP THE SITE ON THE TARGETLESS RECOIL MORE TIME ON THE TARGET FOR BETTER RIFLEMAN ITS ABOUT 2FT DIA ON THE FLASH AT NIGHT I PLAYED OPFOR WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD WITH MY OTHER 3 OF MY AK BUDDYS WITH BLANKS AT NIGHT WITH FOUR AK GOING AT ONCEIT LIGHTS IT UP PRETTY GOOD